Who is he, really?
by Raven of The Shadows Azerath
Summary: WHY AREN'T YOU READING AND REVIEWING! THIS STORY IS BETTER THAN THE SUMARY MAKES IT OUT TO BE! PLZ, READ AND REVIEW! Robin has never really known who exactly Slade was. But will finding out bring his old life-and old identity and friends-back to haunt
1. And Back To Haunt Me

Theythe Teen Titanshad just got back from battling Slade. It was just Slade, but Robin was still obsessed with him. He had to be. He had no choice. Slade was powerful, and was a threat to the city. But he wasn't, really…not in comparison. No one knew that better than Robin. Well, maybe _they_ did…but Robin hadn't seen his two best friends since he left the school to start his own crime fighting team.

It had seemed that Slade was slightly harder to defeat this time. But, like always, the Titans beat Slade. Well, not _beat_ him, really…just delayed him, thwarted him from his plans. But Slade knew more about Robin than Robin thought.

Something seemed wrong today. Robin felt different…it wasn't his usual "hide from himself" day. Usually, on a typical teen titans day, Robin would train, track Slade, and train some more. But something was wrong today. Something was nagging him.

Slade hadn't always been the primary focus of Robin's life. Once, what now seemed to be such a long time ago, Robin had a far more evil and dangerous villain to deal with. He wasn't exactly a _villain_…he rarely attacked, for he was barely even alive….but you could call him that. You could call him a _villain_. And now that he was gone, Robin needed someone to be obsessed with. Like Slade.

But who was Slade? Robin could never seem to figure that out.

But, somehow, fighting Slade had been different today…almost how it used to be. Not exactly, of course. And Robin definitely did NOT miss those days. Or did he? The smart, brown-haired one, the funny redhead…kind of like Beast Boy…and the boy who always teased him, out of jealousy for who he was. _Is._ Robin had _liked_ her…her, the brown-haired one who always read. She was bound to books…yet in a different way than Raven was. But she could be sarcastic, at times, too…

But that was his old life. He had chosen to forget life at the school. He chose the life of a hero…the title he had been given as a newborn baby. But this time, it had been his _own_ choice…not a "villain's".

But why did he remember his old life…today?

Then, with a throbbing pain in his forehead, he knew. He knew what it meant when _it _hurt him. And it hadn't, in, oh, so long!

But it was only Slade. It was only Slade. _It_ shouldn't hurt merely because of _Slade._ Why? He knew the only answer. But it didn't make sense.

At the same time, it made all the sense in the world.

Robin knew his mask covered _it_. His mask was the reason he could put his old life aside and be _almost_ normal.

"Robin! Dinner time!" It was Beastboy calling him. Well, he knew that he should get lost in thought for _too_ long. He went down to join the rest of the Titans. After all, he was _Robin_ now. During dinner, no one spoke. That is, no one spoke until Robin screamed in pain. Now he would have to explain. Or would he? "Oh, it's just my forehead. Since the battle with Slade I've had a headache," Robin lied. "What is this ache of head friend Robin speaks of? And why does it make him scream as such?" Starfire asked out loud with her giddy voice. Robin refused to tell. He refused to tell his teammates the real reason his forehead hurt.

"Robin," Raven said, "I know that's not all. You know I can read minds. And when your thoughts are screaming, I can't help but hear it. I hear it just like I would hear talking." Robin froze. Did she know? Did she know who he was? "No! You can't! You can't know!" Robin let his thoughts scream, directly as a message to Raven. Raven sent him a message back: _I don't know what you are hiding, Robin, but I know that you are scared to tell us. You refuse to tell us. It has to do with Slade…I know that much…but I also sensed Slade far stronger and I know you are even more worried than usual…and you miss two people…old friends? But why can't you tell us, Robin?_

Because I'm not Robin! Robin wanted to scream. And then, he realized, my thoughts _were_ screaming! Oh, no, Robin thought…did Raven hear?

Raven nodded, sending him a message:

_Who are you really, Robin? You don't have to tell if you don't want to._

Robin silenced his thoughts to an inaudible whisper. Do I love her…Raven…now? Am I falling for her? I had fallen for the brown-haired beauty, but then he had to leave. She didn't love him…neither of the girls did. For a while Robin had a crush on Starfire, because Raven reminded him too much of _her…_but his brown-haired beauty was dead. But that was just a silly crush. And, as all crushed do, it quickly died out. As inconsistent as the moon, false love…crushes…die out too soon, like a fire too easily put out by white, pure water. But Robin couldn't help falling for Raven. It was real love. But it hurt him so much…the first syllable from "hurt"… "hur…"… it wasn't spelled like that, of course…but, nevertheless, it hurt him all too much.

He needed to protect Raven so she wouldn't die like _she_ had.

Robin remembered the cabin, and he remembered his only father figure ever. He remembered his height, his largeness, his friendliness (like Starfire…), his love and interest for strange creatures (kind of like Beastboy…). This man wasn't dead…but he was an ocean away…a world away, a lifetime away, a million identities away.

After cleaning up after dinner, Robin decided to go to bed. He would think about it tomorrow…tomorrow, when he could bare the pain. After all, tomorrow was another day.

As the sun rose, Robin yawned, stretching as he rose from his bed. His forehead throbbed. And then he remembered yesterday. Robin knew he would eventually have to tell his teammates…at least Raven. But, for now, he would deal with this on his own. He climbed out of his bed and opened the secret compartment of his dresser. He stared at the object inside, missed using it._ I'll have to use it again, soon_. Robin sensed trouble. He sensed that, possibly…probably not, but possibly…his worst "villain" was back. He knew that it was possible. Anything was possible.

He slowly put his mask on, covering his birthmark.

He remembered what Slade did to Raven. He remembered Raven's birthmark…birthmark_s_. He remembered feeling the excruciating pain Raven felt when Slade burned Raven, revealing her true body and her hidden birthmarks. Robin had a bond with Raven, ever since he had let Raven into his mind when he thought Slade was back. Now Slade truly was back. So was another villain. Or were they one?

Robin couldn't do the "He's back" thing. When they (the other teen titans) had known who the _he_ Robin was talking about, they hadn't believed him (Well, that _he_SladeHADN'T been back). This was different…WAY different. But, still, Robin couldn't explain. Besides, what if he was wrong? He had probably just hit his head when fighting Slade. Yeah, that was probably it.

But then, why was the pain an on and off pain? Why did it only come at certain times?

Robin knew why. He knew way and he knew his duty and his destiny.

He knew his true name and his true abilities and his true identity. He hated the irony that "Slade" rhymed…almost…with someone else's name. But that was just a joke. Because that _someone else_ wasn't really evil…just someone Robin had despised in his old life.

Robin pulled on his Robin costume (almost too literally worded, Robin thought to himself) and went down to breakfast. At least he could still _pretend_ to be normal…

…..but not for that much longer….


	2. Found

Right as Robin was about to make his breakfast-a juicy ham-the titans alarm went off. _This early in the morning?_ Robin yawned. But it wasn't exactly morning anymore-it was almost noon. "Titan's, report," Robin said with a sleepy, weary voice.

It wasn't Slade this time. It was Dr. Light. What a relief. Robin didn't exactly want to deal with Slade too soon-not that superheroes get to pick their villain, or even their title. But after yesterday, he wasn't sure how he would react around Slade next time.

(Raven's POV) I hate battling with Dr. Light. Of all things, I hate light. Robin appeared to think just the opposite-he seemed relieved that the problem was just Dr. Light-not some other villain, like Slade. As all of us were attacking Dr. Light, who was trying to steal the golden gem-a stone kept in the bank for safe-keeping, an amplifier to the sun's light, which is what makes Jump City so bright and sunny (ugh. I prefer the darkness) even in the middle of the night. Starfire was using her starbolts, Robin was using his Kung Foo, Beastboy was charging at Dr. Light like a lion (literally), and Cyborg was blasting Dr. Light. It was right when I was about to attack Dr. Light when I noticed a skinny girl lying on the ground, appearing to be unconscious and wounded. Her hair was dirty and tangled, her face was covered in mud, blood, and scars, and her clothes were torn. Had Dr. Light harmed her? Or was there another villain lurking nearby, waiting to strike…apparently, again? Or had she simply fallen? Who was she? And what happened to her?

It didn't really matter, unless it was a threat to the city. The girl was obviously injured, and needed to be properly cared for. I decided that she (the injured, unconscious girl) would be taken back to titan's tower.

As soon as the titans finished with Dr. Light and handed him over to the cops, they went over to the injured girl, still unconscious, laying on the ground. I observed that the ground around her was burned. Someone had obviously did this to her, and escaped right afterwards. Well, the titans would search for her almost-murderer after bandaging her and caring for her. Starfire was acting happy and giddy, like always, anxious and excited about helping this girl no matter who she may be. Cyborg and Beastboy were their usual, joking, immature selves, and Robin was…well, Robin.

We took the unconscious, unrecognizable girl back to the medical ward of titans' tower. Robin went up to his room to do something-I don't know what. Starfire and I cleaned the wounded girl. I monitored her health on the health monitor. Cyborg and Beastboy stayed in the medical ward for a short while, but then took off to play video games. Starfire went to find out what Robin was doing, and perhaps "do" something was him (doesn't he know that Robin is mine?), and I stayed incase the wounded girl we found woke up.

It was quiet in the medical ward, and I found myself staring at the now clean yet sleeping girl. She was truly beautiful-with her wavy, medium-lengthed brown hair, her pure eyes, and her vivid, beautiful face. She seemed paler than she should be, though, as if whatever happened to her sucked all life from her.

30 minutes later:

The girl was waking up. "W…Where am I?" she asked as she struggled to open her eyelids. I looked, in amazement, as the girl was waking up. I had thought predicted that she was in a coma, and that it would be days, even weeks, before she awoke. "You're at titans' tower. You were injured and unconscious, and we brought you here to fix you up," I said. "Who are you? What is titans' tower? Where am I?" she asked with curiosity in her eyes and voice. Obviously she did not come from Jump City. Obviously, she had no clue what was going on. So I explained.

The injured girl-who still hadn't told me what her name was-was eager to learn more about us, meet us, and discover what happened. She seemed most eager to meet Robin….

I wonder why…


	3. Back and In My World Again

All of the titans were gathered around the girl-who had mysteriously appeared not that many hours ago-in the medical ward. She seemed to be staring at Robin. Why?

"What did you say your leader's name was again?" the girl asked, appearing to be in some sort of trance, not moving her eyes from Robin. "His name is Robin," Raven said with no tone-her normal monotonous voice. "Really?" questioned the girl, "Are you sure?" With that, Robin stared at the still unrecognizable (there were still scabs on her face) girl. '_Did she know?_' Robin thought. '_No, she couldn't possibly._'

"Pleasant awakenings, girl. What is your name and what is your favorite color and will you be my friend?" Starfire chirped with her all too giddy, cheery voice. The girl frowned. "Umm…sure," she said, as if slightly hesitant to Starfire's giddy attitude. Then she (the girl) smiled, ever so slightly, forming the following words with her mouth. "I'm sure you all wonder where I came from. But I'm tired…I want to talk to Robin-alone."

"What? No way!" Beast Boy protested. But the other titans respected Robin and this mysterious newcomer's right to privacy. All of the titans but Robin left the room.

"What is it?" Robin asked, "What do you want to talk to me about? Who are you? And why are you in jump city?"

(In the girl's POV) _Hmm,_the girl was thinking, _Maybe I was wrong? Maybe he's not who I think he is? How could he just forget me? Why doesn't he recognize me?_ I gazed into his beautiful eyes. I looked at his mask. Why did he call himself Robin? "I know you're not _really_ Robin," I say with the voice I used to use-the voice I used back when we were a trio. "Come 'on, tell me," I say, "Take off your mask!" And he just stares! He just stares!

(In Robin's POV) "Why won't you tell me who you are?" I continued to ask, refusing to reply to the strange girl's question. "I will," the girl replied, jokingly, "You first." And so we continued this argument of who would reveal their identity first. Finally, we both gave up and simply started up a conversation.

"Why did you start the Teen Titans?" the girl asked. "I can't tell you that," I said, "I guess you can just say that I wanted to continue to fight evil." That part just slipped out. Oops. "Why are you asking me for this information? Who are you?"

"Let me look into your eyes," the girl replied in a soft, dancing whisper.

"Why?" I ask, puzzled yet curious. "I can't take my mask off." She gives up…but probably just for now.

"Who are you? I know you are not Robin…." The girl trailed off…. "I know you miss us…"

So I look closer into the girl's face. I look at her tangled, yet beautiful brown, hair. I look into her scabbed, yet smooth and beautiful face. I read into her beautiful, pure eyes.

"Hermione," I whisper, as light as a night's breeze, soft as a rose's petal or a fairy's wing, quiet as the dark's eye.

_Hermione. Back and in my world again. _


End file.
